Jamie Vardy has claimed that manager Claudio Ranier's meticulous nature is the main reason behind the 'theme park ride' of Leicester City's Premier League campaign in comments published by Betfair.

The table-topping Foxes have undoubtedly been the story of the season as Ranieri's men boast a two-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at the summit.

Along with in-form winger Riyad Mahrez, 19-goal Vardy has played a huge role in this Leicester cause, but the 29-year-old striker believes that the Italian's 'mental' all-night homework on the opposition is a leading factor behind the fairytale campaign.

In an interview with Betfair, the England hitman said: “It’s a difficult one, obviously each manager I’ve played under have all got different attributes. Every one has been brilliant to me but you’d probably say yeah because of what he’s (Ranieri) done in coming in and the little tweaks he made to help us on the pitch.

“I think he examines every single aspect of every opposition we’re playing. He comes into our team meetings where he’s been up all night watching 50-60 clips of just one of the opposition’s players and he will tell you exactly what he’s done in 49 of them and what he did in the other 11."

Asked to sum up City's season in three words, Vardy added: "Theme park ride."

It has indeed been a phenomenal season for City, who have 12 games left in which to achieve what would have seemed a nigh-on impossible task back in August. That being said, it remains to be seen how Ranieri and co bounce back from the heartbreak of their last Premier League outing.

Two weeks ago, 10-man Leicester looked on course to earn a hard-fought point away at rivals Arsenal, before Danny Welbeck nodded home a last-second winner to earn a 2-1 win and breathe new life into the Gunners' title bid in the process.

They have had 11 days in which to recover from the mental setback, having had no FA Cup game to play in last weekend, but time will tell if Leicester can get back on course. They host Norwich City on Saturday.

Shane Callaghan

Shane is a Dublin-based sports writer who swapped the football pitch for the press box upon learning that he was better with a pen than with a round bit of leather. Prior to joining HITC, Shane enjoyed spells with Sports Mole and Goal.com among others, while he was also club reporter for Irish football club Drogheda United.